[W2CRA] CRA: County RACES Participants Wanted

[William Powell]

All,

I am rather disappointed by the slim response I received to my prior E-Mails.  CRA has long received tower and shelter
space as well as power from the county in return for our participation should it ever be required.
Unfortunately the days of old are long gone; the county requires ALL volunteers to be vetted, trained and credentialed.
Gone are the days of simply "showing up" to help.
To remove the "sugar coating", if you simply show up during a declared emergency you will be turned away at best.
Persist or become part of the "problem" and you can expect handcuffs.

So . . .  To participate AT ALL, you MUST be vetted, credentialed and trained, in advance.

Hunterdon County RACES team members will participate in monthly RACES nets from the communications center and assist in
the development of municipal RACES within the county.
Basic requirements are:
 - A sincere interest in serving the county and it's residents,
 - Actively participating in RACES operations and training,
 - Be able to respond when required,
 - Have RACES as their SOLE emergency volunteer activity,
 - Be willing to submit to a required background check.

Activities
 - Duty is at Cherryville EOC,
 - Duties include RACES radio operations and messaging,
 - Deployment from there to other locations is unlikely,
 - Training will be provided,
 - Activities beyond operations at the RACES room may also include providing support, but NOT operations at municipal
RACES level.

Detailed information will be presented at a forthcoming meeting which will be announced via the CRA reflector.

If you are interested please reply to me at NJ2HN at att.net - NOT to this message.
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Hunterdon County RACES
Charter and Mission
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Charter
Hunterdon County Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) is an all volunteer body operating under the Hunterdon
County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) to provide backup and emergency communications channels that serve to
maintain continuity of communications with local and State governments as well as perform communications related
missions under ESF 2 when other forms of communications are unavailable, overloaded, inappropriate or otherwise
requested.
Hunterdon County RACES operates under authority of the Hunterdon County OEM, the NJ State OEM and 47 CFR Part 97.407 of
the Federal Communications Commission rules.
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Mission
Under the direction of the Hunterdon County OEM, Hunterdon County RACES shall:
 1. Provide communications between officials of County and:
   a. State governments,
   b. Municipal governments,
   c. Other served or serving government and non-government agencies,
 2. Provide support for recruiting, training and program development for Hunterdon County RACES and those Hunterdon
     County municipalities that choose to participate in the Hunterdon County RACES program,
 3. Develop and maintain technical proficiency leading to enhanced / improved communications capabilities,
 4. Investigate and implement methods and means to enhance communications capabilities,
 5. Provide stewardship of Hunterdon County RACES and Interoperability assets,
 6. Undertake other communications-related missions as requested by the Hunterdon County OEM.
Hunterdon County RACES shall, at all times operate under the auspices of, and within applicable policies and regulations
of the Hunterdon County OEM, NJ State OEM and Federal authorities (FCC, FEMA, and DHS).
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